Walter Mossberg has a review of two EV-DO compatible handsets in today's Wall Street Journal.
The first is the Audiovox XV6600 (AKA PPC-6601). According to Mossberg, the XV6600 is on sale now through corporate sales channel and will hit stores for consumers next month. Even though the device has poor battery and talk time, and a hefty price tag ($549), Mossberg did like the EV-DO:
It downloaded hundreds of e-mails daily, at speeds that, while not as fast as my office and home PCs, were close enough that I felt almost as if I was at the computer. On the Internet, Web pages rendered quickly, and I was able to play streaming audio and video, at good resolution, with no more stuttering than you'd get on a PC.
The LG VX8000 was Mossberg's other test device, and it did not fare nearly as well. The email client is the weakness:
Verizon says the VX8000 will have a better e-mail program when it ships next year. But unless it's a really good one, I doubt it will be worth buying this phone for its EV-DO capabilities.
Expect the VX8000 to hit stores in the first quarter of 2005 with a price of under $300.
According to the review, Verizon Wireless will charge $44.99 for unlimited EV-DO access. This is half the price of its laptop card based EV-DO service called BroadbandAccess.